Guest Post Anne Calhoun + Giveaway!

Filed in Anne Calhoun , featured , Giveaways , Guest Post , The Danger Lover Posted on December 3, 2012 @ 7:00 am 16 comments

We are thrilled to welcome author Anne Calhoun to BLI today. Anne is an award winning multi-published author who is here to celebrate the release of her novella Breath on Embers which releases from Carina Press today. Breath on Embers is an extraordinary story about a woman who feels empty in the wake of the loss of her husband and the special guy who is able to stoke and ignite the tiny ember of light still burning inside her. Breath on Embers left me ‘breathless’ and my full review of Anne’s story will post later today at BLI.

About Anne:

After doing time at Fortune 500 companies on both coasts, Anne landed in a flyover state, where she traded business casual for yoga pants and decided to write down all the lively story ideas that got her through years of monotonous corporate meetings. Her first book, LIBERATING LACEY won the EPIC Award for Best Contemporary Erotic Romance. Her story WHAT SHE NEEDS was chosen for Smart Bitch Sarah’s Sizzling Book Club. Anne holds a BA in History and English, and an MA in American Studies from Columbia University. When she’s not writing her hobbies include reading, knitting, and yoga. She lives in the Midwest with her family and singlehandedly supports her local Starbucks.

Take it away Anne!
9/11
by Anne Calhoun

I don’t talk about this very much, but I was living in Manhattan on 9/11. We’d been in the city for six weeks. I’d just started graduate school. My husband was looking for work (he ended up working in California and so was one of those people who flew cross-country in the weeks after 9/11 when planes were so empty you could stretch out in the middle row and sleep). My sister worked on Wall Street, and was literally knocked out of her shoes when the first Tower came down. She remembers the impact, then searching for her running shoes in a cloud of choking dust. When she came to my apartment later that day, her back was scabbed over with abrasions where debris tore through her jacket and blouse. I remember the memorials outside the firehouses, the fliers posted on every light pole and subway station. I remember randomly losing it on the street for weeks afterwards. While there were many, many acts of courage and human kindness, shock and grief were palpable presences in the city for a long, long time.

When I started writing I knew the heroine, Thea, lived in Manhattan and her beloved husband died in a tragic accident two Christmases earlier. She needed a hero who understood what she’d gone through. Ronan, a FDNY lieutenant, lost his uncle, also FDNY, on 9/11. He understands Thea, what she feels, her interior world, but he desperately wants to give her something besides grief. He’s come through grief to the other side, changed in so many ways. He knows it’s possible for her to live, and love, again.

Length: 98 Pages
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance
Release Date: December 3, 2012
Publisher: Carina Press
Formats Available: ebook Kindle, Nook
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher, Goodreads, Kindle, Nook

Book Blurb

Christmas is the perfect time for Firefighter Ronan O’Rourke to take things to the next level with his sexually adventurous girlfriend. He knows she has feelings for him—and he’s sure of his feelings for her—but when Thea refuses his invitation to sample Christmas in New York City because what they share is nothing more than sheet-burning sex, Ronan sets out to change her mind.

Deep down Thea Moretti knows she cares for Ronan, but she can’t move past her grief over her late husband. Loud music and sex with Ronan are the only things she’s got that her feel alive, so she takes as much of both as she can get. She knows Ronan wants more, but during the darkest time of the year finding her way won’t be easy.

Ronan gambles everything and challenges Thea: one night of passion with him and another man. Can he prove to her that what they share isn’t just great sex but an emotional connection strong enough to last forever?

The thing that strikes me about the courageous first responders to any emergency is their commitment to life, to the possibility of saving even one. They believe that life is worth protecting, worth saving. The old adage about police and fire fighters is that they run towards danger when everyone else is running away, but they run towards danger because there’s the chance that someone else’s life, precious life, is at risk and could be saved.

It’s about life and death, resurrection and rebirth.

Ronan knows better than to see his job as heroic deeds of daring and rescue. The only time we see him at work he’s sitting in the cab of a fire truck, doing paperwork after a call.  But his commitment to bringing Thea back into the light burns regardless. Because times of darkness reign in all our lives and sometimes we need an everyday hero to save us.

Question: How do you feel about 9/11 in books? Have you read some particularly well done examples (Kathleen O’Reilly’s Blaze Sex, Straight Up comes to mind for me)?

Where to find Anne:

Website | Twitter | Facebook

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~*~*Giveaway*~*~

Anne has generously offered a digital copy of BREATH ON EMBERS to one lucky commenter (Format winner’s choice)!

All you have to do is answer the question noted above!
(You can read our full giveaway policy here)

Please leave us a way to contact you.
(Email in blogger profile or twitter name – no way to contact you – no entry).

This giveaway is open to International entries!

Giveaway ends on Saturday, December 15, 2012; and we will announce the winner on Sunday.

Good luck!

About Lea


Lea is an animal loving, tree hugging vegetarian who lives in Toronto, Canada with her family, which includes three dogs. She is a prolific reader and has been blogging and reviewing since 2008. Lea is a contributor at the USA Today HEA Blog and an active member at Goodreads.

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16 Comments

Join the Discussion
  • LorettaLynn December 3, 2012 at 8:36 am

    I have never read any so i’m not sure how i would feel about them.

    • LorettaLynn December 3, 2012 at 8:37 am

      sorry here’s my e mail
      elliott2668[at]yahoo[dot]com

  • JenM December 3, 2012 at 9:00 am

    In romance, I’ve seen it used as backstory a couple of times although I can’t think of any examples. The only book I’ve read where it was a central event was not romance, but litfic – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer.

  • Maria D. December 3, 2012 at 10:14 am

    I don’t believe I’ve actually read any books with 9/11 as a part of the story – I think I’ve read a couple of romances where the secondary characters had some kind of tie to 9/11 but nothing intense. I’m not really sure how I feel about it being used in stories – a part of me thinks it should stay out of fictionalized work but another part of me thinks it’s just like every other event in American History and that it’s okay so I guess I’m undecided. Thanks for the giveaway!

  • Michele H December 3, 2012 at 10:42 am

    I’ve read several books were 9/11 was mentioned but never a central part of the story. Thanks so much for the giveaway and best of luck to you with your new release! It sounds wonderful!

  • aurian December 3, 2012 at 10:50 am

    Thank you for sharing this with us. I don’t think I have ever read a book with 9-11 as a main part of the story, and I have no idea if I would like it, or if it would be too much real life in a romance for me. I did read some urban fantasy with Kathrina as a major part of the story, and I loved that.

  • erinf1 December 3, 2012 at 11:02 am

    Thanks for the great post and congrats to Anne on the new release! I haven’t read any 9/11 themed books, not avoiding on purpose, just haven’t come across any yet.

  • Laurie December 3, 2012 at 1:07 pm

    I haven’t read any that had 9/11 as the main part, just people who had been there when it happened. There are tragic events that happen and are used in stories all the time, but as long as it is tasteful and part of the backstory I don’t have a problem with it. Thanks for the chance, this sounds like a very good read!

  • Victoria Zumbrum December 3, 2012 at 8:42 pm

    I have never read any books about 9/11 in them. I don’t have a problem with them as long the storyline is decent and they dont put the tragic events down.

  • Yadira A. December 3, 2012 at 10:42 pm

    I actually have read any 9/11 in books, but wouldn’t mind giving one a try!

  • Mary Preston December 4, 2012 at 2:51 am

    I’ve never read any books about 9/11. I imagine them to be quite heart breaking though.

  • KellyM December 4, 2012 at 10:55 am

    I haven’t read any books involving 9/11. Honestly, I don’t recall seeing very many stories out there, that have to do with 9/11, that I’ve come across. I really enjoyed reading your post and thanks for the giveaway!

    • KellyM December 4, 2012 at 10:58 am

      Just to clarify—I haven’t come across any romance novels that reference 9/11. Looking forward to reading this one though!

  • bn100 December 4, 2012 at 12:10 pm

    Haven’t read about it in books. Nice post.

  • Arely Z. December 4, 2012 at 2:33 pm

    I’ve never read any 9/11 books, but I don’t think it’s bad or anything. I’m willing to give one a try 😀

  • Rahab M December 4, 2012 at 2:47 pm

    Happy Release Day Anne! Looking forward to reading Breath on Embers. I haven’t read any books that talk about 9/11. Thanks for sharing & Thanks for the chance to win.
    ryjosy at yahoo dot com.

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